The present invention relates to a novel method and apparatus for making snow and particularly to a method and apparatus for making snow in all seasons.
One method and apparatus for making snow utilizes blocks or cakes of ice which are shaved into fine ice flakes by a rotating cutter. The snow-like ice flakes are blown off, together with a gas, by a blower or compressed air blast. A disadvantage of the shaving method and apparatus is the form of shaved ice which is far from naturally formed snowflakes.
Another method and apparatus for making snow involves a snow making chamber having a screen- or brush-like member on which frost is formed by a spray, ultrasonic atomizer or the like. The frost is then scraped by suitable means to form the snow. A disadvantage of the device is the long time required for frost development, since the frost is formed on the screen- or brush-like member by the mist. Once the frost has been scraped, considerable time is required before new frost can develop, making it impossible to produce snow on a continuous basis. A further disadvantage associated with this method is that the frost, once scraped, tends to harden to a state much different from that of naturally formed snow crystals.
A third method and apparatus provides a mist which is supplied to a snow making chamber to generate ice crystals. The ice crystals are suspended within the chamber by an air stream. As the ice crystals are suspended, they continue to grow into snowflakes. The ice crystals become heavier as they grow and eventually fall out of the air stream due to their weight.
Following this method, it is difficult to suspend the fine ice crystals and grow them into snowflakes having a diameter of several millimeters. An extremely sophisticated control of the air stream is required to achieve the desired suspension density. Accordingly, the ice-crystal growth chamber must be of a height substantially equal to a building five stories high in order to achieve an effective control of the air stream. As a consequence, the apparatus is inconveniently bulky and impractical to use. Moreover, the method requires a time cycle on the order of 20 to 30 minutes to grow the ice crystals in the same manner as in nature, so it is difficult to realize continuous snowfall.
In view of the problems and disadvantages associated with the former methods of making artificial snow, the present invention provides a method for continuously and rapidly making snowflakes which more closely resembles naturally formed snow.